Cryptic Clocks
by Ascacious
Summary: It is said no one has ever seen his real face or even heard his actual voice. Hm, interesting.
1. Curiosity

CHAPTER 01

"Really, that thing is a puppet? I actually thought it was you."

"As dumb as you are."

Another mission completed. If one thought joining Akatsuki was a thrill, they were so miserably wrong. The members were allotted missions, mainly those involving recent activities of the hosts of the Tailed Beasts and the conspiring villages; they completed those, rested and were again allotted the same uninteresting missions. After a month or two, those people who occasionally seek change, would get bored to the core. Deidara was one of them, which is why he complained too much and Sasori, well, he wasn't patient with him.

"But then, I don't get it. Why would you hide in that ugly rat's ass, hm?"

"Deidara, do I really have to explain everything? Like you were thrown off-guard knowing this is not my real body, so will be my opponents. Is not that an advantage?"

"Hm, if you say so." Deidara knew if he continued to talk to Sasori the way he casually does, the latter would definitely react. Sasori did not seem the type to say anything concerning himself. All he talked to him about was art and missions.

But Deidara's curiosity was definitely taking the peaks now. If that wasn't how his partner looked, then how did he? If it is true that he is around 35 years old, then he must be a fairly old man, maybe with beard? His creative mind started to imagine the various Sasoris there could be. This imagination took the best of him and he was even more curious than before.

He somehow drank the feelings of intense eagerness and quietly walked the path to the latest Akatsuki hideout. This hideout was located in secluded forest patch near the Village Hidden in the Grass. Akatsuki always chose the small, weak village corners for its hideout. They had to find a place which would not be easily spotted by the Five Great Hidden Villages and which would also allow them to function unimpeded. The Hidden Grass Village allowed them fast access to the Earth, Fire and Wind Countries.

This hideout was a judiciously crafted underground cavern with a narrow entry point. Deidara and Sasori descended down the ragged stairs and spotted a familiar figure swathed in darkness. It was Konan, the leader's partner and messenger.

"So you two have come. How did it go?" Konan spoke coldly, not caring about anything else but results.

"The Five Tails Jinchuriki, Han from the Village Hidden in the Rocks, left for an 8-day long mission in West Boundaries of the Earth Countries. He is going alone, so it is our best chance to capture him." Deidara explained, as Sasori, perhaps, did not even know which Tailed Beast they had to collect information on.

"Good work. I shall inform the leader, while you two should rest. Any orders I receive will be conveyed to you by tomorrow."

Deidara simply nodded and headed towards the rooms in the hideout and Sasori followed. Actually, Deidara had wanted to ask if they were the ones who would be hunting Han down, but asking Konan wasn't a good idea. In front her, he would not dare to act spontaneous.

Most of the hideouts had rooms for at least two pairs to rest and everyone had different rooms. Rock was carved to create a bed-like shape and also a table. There was nothing in the room except for these two carved figures, well, at least that made it seem like a room, not an empty space.

Without a word, the artists parted into their rooms.

Upon entering his room, Deidara shoved his hat off. He hated it most of all! That straw build and the fancy tassels hanging around it were really irritating. He also removed his cloak soon after and rested down on the rock structure. He looked up at the ceiling and fell half-asleep soon after.

Around fifteen minutes later, he remembered something he had to do! What about Sasori's face?

He completely forgot. This was a very good opportunity for him to know what he looked like. He would be resting in his room and all Deidara had to do was take a peek. That couldn't be too tough.

Yeah, sure.

He was up against Sasori of the Red Sand, who was apathetic and downright cruel. What if he never let his guard down in the first place? What if he slept inside that rotten puppet? No, that couldn't be it. Everyone needs to get some air and that puppet would need maintenance too. Too many thoughts started to bottle up in Deidara's mind and when that happened, his fuse would go off.

Whatever. He was still going to try. He snuck out of his room and carefully inspected Sasori's room from outside. He made small clay spiders and left them to crawl over the vertical walls of his room. The spiders were strong enough to dig into the walls, but it took time. The blonde waited patiently until they made a hole in the wall. Soon enough, the spiders were through and a keyhole sized cavity emerged. Deidara put back the spiders in his pouch and leaned in to see through the whole.

Nothing.

The room was empty. Sasori wasn't there. His ugly puppet wasn't there. But that was definitely his room as the hat was placed there.

"And what exactly are you doing, Deidara?"

Yikes. Deidara slowly tilted himself and saw Sasori (still in that useless puppet) glaring at him. Well, as long as he was in that puppet, his eyes always seemed red and creepy. "Uh-uhm, I was just…"

"…trying to know what I truly look like?" That's why he was Sasori! He knew just how impulsive his partner was and had already anticipated his actions. Though the way he was doing it was disturbing.

And there was Deidara, still wondering how in the blue hell was he supposed to respond to that, damn it!? He continued to look awkward and perplexed, just to delay the question.

"Come."

"Huh?" Deidara could not understand that 'come' thing. What? Was he going to show his face? No way. Then was he going to give him a beating or possibly teach him a lesson? Again, Deidara had started overthinking. He shook all his thoughts away and simply followed his partner.

* * *

A/N: I have no idea why I decided to publish this or even write this. Well, I am trying. Let's see where this goes and yes, I don't know where I am taking this.


	2. Confusion

CHAPTER 02

A lone figure standing over the Village Hidden in the Rain, as if he is always watching over the villagers. Ever since Hanzo's rule had ended, the Rain Village felt quite secured and peaceful under their 'God' and 'Angel'. The village had been the battlefield for many wars and was plagued by it. But even after experiencing such tragic events, the village was now finally stable, which was all thanks to their mysterious leader.

It was not raining that day. Rather there was no reason for it to be raining, since it was a weekday and Pain did not have any business outside of the country. All movements of the members of the Akatsuki were conveyed to him by Konan. She would leave paper clones of herself in various hideouts and work as a source of communication between the Leader and the members. Even if Konan never complained about the job, it was still very exhausting.

"The Five Tails is on a mission alone and its host's location has been pinpointed." Konan said as she walked up to Pain, who was still looking straight ahead.

"Who two, except Sasori and Deidara, are the nearest to the Five Tails' location?" Pain spoke in a monotone. He shifted to look back at Konan, who had closed her eyes.

She was meditating and searching the locations of other teams. Not only was she fast, but also accurate in tracing the whereabouts. She gradually looked up to Pain and spoke, "Hidan and Kakuzu."

"Good. Inform them of their mission to hunt the Five Tails." Pain again started to look at the town. "And, as for Sasori and Deidara, I have another mission for them."

* * *

Sasori walked ahead of his partner, who continued to follow him with a perplexed expression on his face. Even when the puppet master was inside Hiruko, his senses did not dull. He was aware of every step that the blonde was taking and could predict every thought he might be thinking. No wonder Sasori of the Red Sand was a frightening opponent in battle.

He finally stopped when both of them were in an open space within the hideout. He slowly turned to face his partner. On the other side, Deidara's mind was going in circles. He wasn't sure what Sasori was going to do, rather he had no idea what all of this was about. He was nervous, that much was sure.

"Summoning Technique" Sasori finally spoke and when he did, he was going to summon something? The smoke had enclosed the whole area surrounding the puppet master.

Deidara jumped backwards to create an appropriate distance between him and his partner. He lifted his hands in a guarding position, just in case something suddenly emerged out of the smoke. But using this technique would mean that Sasori wants to fight him, right? Why would he search for an open area in the hideout, if not to fight? He decided to remain quiet and let the events unfold as they please. However, as the cloud of smoke lessened, Deidara was dazed. "W-what?"

A display of various kinds of ninja. No, they did not demonstrate any signs of life in them. Puppets? The blonde knew his partner was a strong puppet master, but he did not anticipate him having so many puppets. Most of all, every one of those puppets seemed extremely strong and almost real, even if they showed no living signs.

"Do you see all these puppets, Deidara?" Sasori paused for a moment, which made his partner even more anxious. "All of them used to be human; they used to be ninja. But they faced me as their opponent and now they are mere puppets, a part of my collection. Only they know of my real face, which means that, if you want to know what I look like, you'll have to face me in battle and then become a part of my collection. Only then will you know of my true identity."

Sasori was annoyed. His partner was a kid; a brat who did not understand a single thing about art! Yet he continued to babble about art being transient. If not about art, it wasn't as if he was cooperative or very respectful. He would rush ahead, face all opponents by himself and in short, he was just unsuitable to be his partner in the Akatsuki. Heh, if it was in Sasori's power, he would not even admit kids as inexperienced and stupid like him. But he knew that the blonde was strong. Well then, adding him to his collection would be perfect. The brat would get to see his face and Sasori would get another strong puppet, simple.

"Shall we start then?" Sasori said in a mocking tone.

Deidara was still in shock. His curiosity was high, but fighting Sasori of the Red Sand over it? No matter how much confidence the sculptor had on himself, he did know Sasori was stronger. Facing him in battle would be pointless, but nonetheless, it actually excited him on the inside. Whenever he came against a strong opponent, all he could do was smirk at the thrill of the battle.

"Bring it on, hm!" Results of the battle were not of Deidara's concern anymore. All he knew that he was going to fight and survive. No way was he going down that easy! But just as he dug his hand in his clay pouch, he heard a noise.

Footsteps? Who?

Konan stood across the two artists, staring at them. She didn't even say a word, yet the both of them stopped.

"The Five Tails is already captured. The sealing process will begin after a few minutes. Do not be late." Konan said and then walked away. She never really cared for any of the members. She knew they were going to fight, but didn't instruct them to stop or cease this foolishness. She conveyed the orders and went away. Because of such attitude, no one in the organization questioned her or misbehaved in front of her.

Sasori and Deidara saw Konan leave and withdrew their battle stances.

That had been the perfect opportunity for Sasori to get rid of his annoying partner, but if that chance was already lost, he was not the kind to carry it either way. There will be many more chances in the future; it was not as if his partner was going to change. He put his puppets back to their respective scrolls and followed the path Konan had taken.

Deidara only seemed to look at the both of them walk away. His mind switched topics quick. Just a few minutes ago, he was getting into the battle with Sasori and now, all he was thinking about was how painful the next three days were going to be. Wasn't there a better way to seal away a tailed beast than to circle around and extract chakra? He, instead of following Konan and his partner, went to his room to fetch his cloak.

"Oh well."

* * *

A/N: Thank you to all those reviewed this story's first chapter. It was my motivation to quickly finish up the second one. There will be approximately 3-4 more chapters for this story. Well, I would be glad if you all support me further by reviewing this chapter as well.


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